Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Ponyfic Roundup 158: Run With Us

Read it Later story count: 444 (nc)

Another lightweight edition of PR today, I'm afraid. It's actually even lighter than I was expecting; I was planning to read at least one more fic, but then Manchester happened and I just didn't feel like it any more. The story in question should be in next week's batch, though. A mere three fics to look at this time, as follows:

Lucky Dreams is the author of my favourite ponyfic ever (In the Place the Wild Horses Sleep, PR 20), but he's mystifyingly overlooked by much of the fandom. This story has under 500 views, which is ludicrous. It's a lovely tale for children (young and old!) in which Apple Bloom dreams. The strange, shimmering quality of the story is indeed dreamlike, and it has plenty of what I'd call "poetic whimsy" if I dared. I didn't love it instantly as I had with Wild Horses, and it never quite blew me sideways as that one had – perhaps because I wasn't so unready this time – but it crept up on me afterwards. Another wonderful story by a wonderful author. For goodness' sake go and read his work. ★★★★

A simple story of a mare who knew that magic was where the home is. Preferably a home with thick window treatments and a sturdy, well-locked door. Very secure. Very magical.

In a nutshell, the story of what would have happened at the start of S1 had Twilight refused Celestia's mission to go out and make new friends, but instead hidden in a gigantic book fort with Spike. It was apparently written as a joke, and as such you have to roll with a few rather unlikely things, but as a jokefic it has its moments – Derpy's appearance, for example, or the occasional references to book genres you never knew you wanted to read. There's also a small Friendship is Witchcraft reference, which pleases me even if it doesn't please anyone else. :P It's obvious where this is going most of the time, but still. Also, the author's name is cool. A top-end two. ★★

What would you do, if you received a call from a suicidal pony? Do you help? Do you hang up? It's something no one wants to think about, nor ever genuinely thinks about. But sometimes, you are forced to...

This is a potentially interesting setup – grim, but interesting. The identity of the other pony in the main character's life also makes a certain amount of sense. Said main character is a self-insert OC, but happily not an ultra-overpowered one. So, why that one-star rating? For a start, the scene-setting is ridiculous. For reasons that are never explained, "What's New Pussycat?" apparently plays in Equestrian bars. And phones... I know a few other writers have used them, but I've never really felt they fit Equestria. We then get a thousand words or so of fair suspense before the story falls apart spectacularly in the second half. At one point, the same two words are repeated about 30 times. The end result is, unfortunately, a mess and a half. ★Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: at this point, who knows? :P

Lucky Dreams definitely deserves more followers than he has, and he's an interesting specimen in that he exclusively writes these children's-style stories. In the fanfiction community, this is often seen as something bad, a lack of versatility, while with professional writers, it's seen as a good thing, finding your niche and excelling at it. I like his writing and helped him a bit on one story. He was applying for a university writing program at one point, I believe, so hopefully he'll be making these stories professionally at some point. If you find that you like these stories that have a feel of being aimed at a younger audience, then by all means check out his other stories. I wrote one myself, kind of through inspiration from enjoying his style, and a lot of people liked it, so check out "Dinkin' Donuts" if the style interests you. Present Perfect wrote one I really enjoyed that's closer to a YA or slightly younger feel called "So Her Legacy Will Endure."

Dinkin' Donuts is on the RiL list already. As ever, no clue when I'll get to it! I haven't read PP's story, so I'll go and have a look.

More generally, I like a good children's story to this day. I've mentioned Rosemary Sutcliff before, but like 99% of British schoolkids I was raised on Roald Dahl's children's books too. One of these days I may do a little non-Pony post about the kids' books I still enjoy.